ANTI-LGBT BULLYING AND HARASSMENT IN SCHOOLS: SCOPE, IMPACT

AND SOLUTIONS

Information presented in this document is drawn from GLSEN research reports and published articles. GLSEN reports are available at www.glsen.org/research.

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM AND EDUCATIONAL IMPACT

Anti-LGBT bullying and harassment are pervasive:	33% of all secondary school students report that students in their school are bullied and harassed often or very often because they are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. More than 80% of LGBT secondary school students nationally report being verbally harassed in school because of their sexual orientation, and more than 60% are harassed because of their gender expression.
Bullying and harassment negatively affect students’ access to an education:	LGBT students who are regularly harassed in school are three times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe than students who are less often harassed.
Bullying and harassment negatively affect students’ academic performance:	LGBT students who are regularly harassed in school report GPAs almost one-half a grade lower than students who are less often harassed.
Bullying and harassment affect students’ educational aspirations:	LGBT students are nearly twice as likely as the general student population to say they do not plan to attend college. This difference may be related to the higher incidences of in-school victimization experienced by LGBT students, as LGBT students who are regularly harassed in school report lower educational aspirations than other students.
Bullying and harassment negatively affect students’ sense of connectedness to their school community:	Being victimized in school because of one’s sexual orientation or gender expression is directly related to a lower sense of school connectedness among LGBT students.

SAFE SCHOOLS POLICIES AND LAWS THAT EXPLICITLY INCLUDE PROTECTIONS BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY/EXPRESSION CAN IMPROVE SCHOOL CLIMATE

Impact of school anti-bullying/harassment policies:

Comprehensive school policies result in lower levels of victimization for LGBT students in contrast to “generic” policies (those that do not mention sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) or with no policy at all. Comprehensive school policies result in school staff effectively intervening with incidents of victimization. Yet less than half of principals nationally report that their school has a comprehensive policy.

Impact of state-wide safe schools laws:

LGBT students in states with a comprehensive safe schools law experience lower levels of victimization than students in states with no law or with a generic law. Students with such laws also report greater intervention by school staff when homophobic remarks are made in school.

EDUCATORS CAN MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE, BUT THEY LACK THE SKILLS TO DO SO

Supportive educators can make a positive difference for students:	LGBT students with a high number of supportive school staff report GPAs almost one-half a grade higher than students without supportive staff. They are also less likely to say they do not plan to attend college (8% versus 20%), and to have a greater sense of school connectedness than students without supportive staff in school.
Effective intervention in bullying and harassment by educators can create safer schools:	When educators respond effectively to victimization, LGBT students experience lower levels of harassment and assault and are less likely miss school because they feel unsafe.
Educators often do not respond to bullying and harassment:	A third (34%) of LGBT students who report incidents of harassment and assault to school staff say that staff do nothing in response. Almost a third (31%) of teachers themselves say that they never or infrequently intervene when hearing homophobic remarks.
Many educators lack skills in dealing with anti-LGBT bullying and harassment, and support further professional development:	1 in 3 principals rate their staff as “fair” or “poor” at being able to effectively deal with anti-LGBT bullying/harassment. Most school principals believe that professional development would be helpful for them personally (62%) and for their staff (71%) in creating safer schools for LGBT students.
Most educators do not receive training on dealing with anti-LGBT bullying and harassment:	58% of principals report that their school or district provided professional development on bullying/harassment in the past year, but only a fifth provided any training on bullying/ harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity/ expression.